Well let me calm your nerves and tell you that animals don’t get the same urge to stare at the sun during these events like humans do, so there’s no need to rush out and by Pickles a cool pair of Ray-Bans, say experts.

Angela Speck, director of astronomy and a professor of astrophysics at the University of Missouri, said at a conference recently: ‘On a normal day, your pets don’t try to look at the sun, and therefore don’t damage their eyes. And on this day, they’re not going to do it, either.’

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But that doesn’t mean we should totally ignore our furry friends when darkness falls.

The eclipse will take place on August 21 (Picture: timeanddate.com)

Here are the major states the eclipse can be viewed from (Picture: timeanddate.com)

And here are the best viewing places on the east coast (Picture: timeanddate.com)

Experts say the eclipse could make your pets act a little strange, but nothing to get worked up about.

Dr Don Moore of Oregon Zoo said most dogs and cats might want to go to bed or eat at a different time. As the sun gets covered, they may assume it’s night time and start nestling down for the day.

But Dr Moore added most household pets will not be alarmed.

When and where can I see the eclipse?

As the moon moves in front of the sun, daylight will yield to darkness from Oregon to South Carolina along a path 60 to 70 miles wide.

The path of totality will also cut across broad swaths of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee, along with corners of Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina, and a tiny chip of Iowa.

Totality will first hit Oregon around 10.15am Pacific time. South Carolina will experience the final moments of total darkness at 2.49pm Eastern time.

The solar eclipse explained by NASA

Solar eclipses occur when the moon blocks any part of the sun. Total solar eclipses, however, are only possible on Earth because of a cosmic quirk of geometry: The sun’s diameter is 400 times wider than the moon’s, but it is also 400 times farther away.

The result is that the sun and the moon appear to be the same size from our perspective. When they line up just right, the moon can obscure the sun’s entire surface, creating a total solar eclipse.

This line-up occurs once every 12 to 18 months. Partial solar eclipses, on the other hand, occur when the alignment is such that the moon blocks only part of the sun, and these can occur more frequently.